Tom Cruise’s behavior on ‘Mission Impossible 2’ set was so disturbing, he had to be stopped: "He wanted..."
Tom Cruise is known for his dedication to filmmaking and during the production of ‘Mission: Impossible 2’, that intensity proved challenging for all who worked on the set. Released in 2000, ‘Mission: Impossible 2’ was a continuation of the hit series by John Woo, one of Hong Kong’s prominent directors. While it performed reasonably well at the box office, having earned over $546 million, the scenes that played out off-camera told an entirely different story.
One of the significant problems in production was that Cruise was reportedly too controlling at times. This comes after director Woo revealed that Cruise was highly invested in the editing process of their film. In an interview with ‘Rolling Stone’, Woo shared that Cruise even suggested installing a camera in the editing room to monitor their progress. “Actually, he couldn’t do that,” Woo explained, adding, “But after the movie finished, he went to Australia for vacation and then he wanted to put a camera in the cutting room to see our work because he wanted to know what we were doing, and we didn’t allow him to do that.” Despite Cruise’s initial curiosity, Woo emphasized the importance of creative freedom during the editing process. “He changed his mind. I said I needed to cut my film without any interference, and he understood,” he added.
Cruise is also well-known for performing his own stunts, and during the filming of 'Mission: Impossible 2', he pushed himself to the limit. While this thrilled fans and added authenticity to his action scenes, it caused frustration for Woo and the stunt team. Cruise reportedly insisted on doing dangerous stunts himself, refusing to rely on professional stunt doubles. This led to tension on set, as Woo wanted the stunt team to shine, while Cruise’s persistence slowed down the already demanding shoot. Adding to the challenge, the studio’s tight deadlines didn’t make things any easier. Woo’s original cut of the film was reportedly more than three hours long, as reported by Collider.
According to ‘Express UK’, Woo wanted to use several techniques to conceal Cruise during the high-energy stunts in the film. He had considered using stunt doubles, camera tricks, and even CGI to make the action sequences work. However, Cruise wasn’t interested in these alternatives. He was “adamant” about doing the stunts himself because he believed it would look more realistic on screen. He found using a body double was “far too easy” and likened it to “cheating” the audience.
Paramount executives rejected the original version and forced him to bring it down significantly. In the end, the film was shorter, with a lot of holes in the plot and continuity, leaving critics and fans disappointed. In retrospect, even Cruise himself admitted that ‘Mission: Impossible 2’ was not his best work. The actor described the filming experience as grueling, reportedly calling it “six months in the dark” during interviews, as noted by Business Insider.
However, Cruise eventually realized that Woo’s action films had a huge impact on American action films, and a lot of film directors looked up to him for inspiration. “You see how his action movies have affected the American action films and different filmmakers that I think admire him or pay homage to him,” Cruise told in a DVD extra for the film, as reported by Slashfilm. Despite the challenges, 'Mission: Impossible 2' became a massive box-office hit, earning over $546 million globally, with $215 million coming from US ticket sales alone, proving its success.